Preseason Roster Analysis: QB
The month of June was full of recruiting news and that has continued into July.
Soon, all the recruiting news will give way to preparation for the season. Before long we’ll be talking about the games in the fall.
To help fans gear up for another season of Kentucky football we’re taking a closer look at the roster position-by-position. As always, we’ll start at quarterback, with the position that handles the ball on every play.
Projected QB Depth Chart
- Zach Calzada
- Cutter Boley
- Stone Saunders OR Brennen Ward
Calzada comes to Kentucky after two years at Incarnate Word, a year without playing time at Auburn, and a starting stint at Texas A&M that saw him take the Aggies to an 8-win season.
Much is riding on Calzada’s presumed improvement from his time at Incarnate Word the past couple of years. Statistically he did fare very well at the school.
Last season he completed 65.5% of his passes for 3,744 yards and 35 touchdowns against only nine picks. That was far and away Calzada’s best season at the college level because of the TD/INT split and total yardage. His QBR was actually better his first year at Incarnate Word but only had 19 touchdown passes. Calzada completed 56.1% of his passes as a starter at A&M in 2021. His completion percentage has been a full 10 points higher than that each of the last two seasons at Incarnate Word, so time will tell how much of that was real improvement versus the level of competition.
Mark Stoops and Bush Hamdan have talked about the benefit of having a quarterback with experience. They like that Calzada is big, physical, has some athleticism, and is a competitor. But both coaches also pointed out that, in spite of Calzada’s experience, he needed to continue to become more comfortable in the system he will be running this fall.
While Calzada is the presumed favorite to start in the fall the coaches haven’t ruled out the possibility that Cutter Boley could still win the job.
It was a mixed bag for Boley last year. He did some great things against Texas (10/18, 160 yards, INT), though he took four sacks, and was excellent against Murray State (10/14, 130 yards, 2 TD). He didn’t fare nearly as well against Louisville or Florida. What we saw from Boley last year was inexperience but also some real talent and playmaking ability to stretch the entire field. He has continued to put on weight and is up to 220 pounds, now with some legitimate playing experience to build on if he gets the opportunity.
The coaches were happy to bring in both Stone Saunders and Brennen Ward, from Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively, but in almost any scenario the hope is that both players can develop and redshirt, maintaining all of their eligibility for when they are older or the need to play is more pressing.
Those who rank starting SEC quarterbacks haven’t been especially bullish on Kentucky’s situation behind center. The Sporting News recently took a stab at ranking the SEC’s projected starters 1-16 and Calzada came in at No. 15. USA TODAY had some nice things to say about him, at least compared to some recent Kentucky quarterbacks, but ranked him last out of all projected SEC starters.
One hope commonly expressed by people around the program has been that an improved situation for the quarterback will improve the results for whoever is behind center. The Big Blue Wall has shown plenty of cracks in recent years, but Kentucky spent a lot of money on its offensive line in the offseason, and Mark Stoops seems intent on bringing back the program’s physical identity, which had waned as the offensive line’s performance declined this year.
In the big picture, Kentucky does have more backup options this year than in most recent seasons if something happens to Calzada or if he doesn’t find success. Having four scholarship quarterbacks who had other power conference options in high school also means there are more opportunities to find someone to take control of the offense this year or next. But in terms of the actual starting situation, outside observers are going to wait to see it before they buy in.
We now have a very interesting dynamic as it seems like Kentucky’s longstanding quarterback recruiting woes are over. Kentucky has had plenty of success recruiting high school quarterbacks, to the point it now has top-10 2026 prospect Matt Ponatoski and talented dual-threat DJ Hunter from the Class of 2027. But Stoops will have to get the program heading back in the right direction over the next year or two before most of those players have an opportunity to play a lot.
This fall, the hope has to be that Calzada can protect the football, create some big plays with his arm and legs, and use his game experience to manage close contests better than Kentucky has in recent years.